NOT TIRED AT ALL [DVD]

You are not obliged to understand me 
I almost don’t feel the need to insist 
you offered me a love made of plastic 
but did you ever ask yourself if deceiving me was the honest thing to do

Remember you’re the one that’s not there when I cry
You’re the one that doesn’t  know when my birthday is
When I’m floundering in the dark 

But how can I give my heart and soul and be able to believe 
that everything is more or less easy when it’s impossible 
I wanted to be stronger than all your uncertainties 
but I can’t make do 
with a love made of plastic if that’s all you can give me
You are the fire that’s difficult to light 
There’s no excuse but yet you know how to confuse me  

Remember you’re the one that’s not there when I cry
You’re the one that doesn’t know when my birthday is 
When I’m floundering in the dark 
But how can I give my heart and soul and be able to believe 
that everything is more or less easy when it’s impossible 
I wanted to be stronger than all your uncertainties 
but I can’t make do 
with a love made of plastic if that’s all you can give me

I wanted to be stronger than all your uncertainties 
but I can’t make do 
with a love made of plastic if that’s all you can give me

but I can’t make do 
with a love made of plastic if that’s all you can give me 

You look down a hole and you can’t see the light  
inside the ants are talking about me     
silence all around makes it’s easy     
to hear the clouds speak

and in this silence I think about that dumb, dirty trick 
played on me so slyly behind my honourable back  
well !   
Why don’t you say something so that I can flush you out 
With your tongue like a rattlesnake
spit venom at your brothers and sisters...    

Perhaps the sun is shy   
It doesn’t talk to the wind about the strange excitement it feels inside  
while the black-and-blue sea remains suspended beneath the sky 
talking about it makes no sense  

and in this silence I think about the dumb, dirty trick 
played on me so slyly behind my honourable back  
well !!  

Why don’t you say something so that I can figure you out 
with your tongue like a rattlesnake 
spit venom at your brothers and sisters...

Why don’t you say something so that I can flush you out       
Prattlesnake      
Why don’t you say something so that I can flush you out  
Prattlesnake   

I survived this last ordeal 
so after all I can be proud 
of being a woman with a capital W 
I certainly treasure 
what you’ve taught me  
and I can definitely say 
that I am a woman with a capital W 
that I am a woman who’s got what it takes 

W as in wilful dupe 
How long did I put up with your scheming ways
W as in wilful dupe 
How long had you been plotting behind my back

It was a bitter pill to swallow
and nobody knows  
your despicable methods 
better than I do 
I buried my foolish infantile idealism  
and can now declare 
that I am a woman with a capital W 
that I am a woman who’s got what it takes 

W as in wilful dupe
How long did I put up with your scheming ways
W as in wilful dupe
How long had you been plotting behind my back 
W as in wilful dupe 
how long did you slip and slide beneath my sheets 

Kiss me again Judas
Until I have breath in my body   
until I get my reward 
until I have breath in my body  
until I get my reward  

until I have breath in my body  
until I get my reward  
Kiss me, Kiss me, Kiss me, Kiss me 
W as in wilful dupe 
W as in wilful dupe 
W as in wilful dupe 

Deaf merciless mermaids
made the sad announcement
as the setting sun flooded 
the deserted roads
dark omens 
power games experienced first-hand
or by men armed with romantic ideals
whatever the reward
it will never be right

We will be ready to celebrate victory
and joyfully drink a toast amongst the ruins
few will be able to release themselves from poverty
and be happy about the glory however infinite 

The sharp echo of mermaids 
cuts our open wounds 
we waited helplessly for the enemy to attack
(and) perhaps for the last time 
power games experienced first-hand
or the irreparable damage of wasted childhood
who will pay for this
whoever carries the signs

We will be ready to celebrate victory
and joyfully drink a toast amongst the ruins
few will be able to release themselves from poverty
and be happy about the glory however infinite 

winners and losers
we will rebuild everything
winners and losers

Between one page and another of a randomly chosen book 
I was slowly killing time it was September already a few far-off voices and
absent-minded Autumn on the other side of the windows  
I almost hoped you wouldn’t come 
I almost believed that I wouldn’t miss you and yet I was waiting for you

Taking my mind off things seemed rather easy
I thought I could put up with your indifference 
looking for useless excuses and remedies  
You were the sore point, it was you sugary sweet Autumn it was you

I made a cold appraisal of my limits 
reckless gestures and frequent sacrifices 
it was late and my eyes were burning I was staring at the ceiling
my unmade bed  
I almost hoped you wouldn’t come 
I almost believed that I wouldn’t miss you and yet I was waiting for you 

Taking my mind off things seemed rather easy
I thought I could put up with your indifference 
looking for useless excuses and remedies  
I thought I could smother my impatience 
You were the sore point, it was you sugary sweet Autumn  
You were the sore point, it was you sugary sweet Autumn  

Sugary sweet Autumn… (x 4)

Autumn
Sugary sweet Autumn…

Narcissist, butter me up with words 
That melt under the hot breath of passion 
Narcissist, transparency and mystery 
Cover me with oil, almonds and vanity 
Shape me… 
Tell  me the stories you like to invent 
Frighten me 
Tell me about new exciting victories 
Win me over, invent me, give me a new identity 
Stun me, leave me defenceless and then strike
Embrace me and intoxicate me with irony and sensuality
Narcissist, butter me up with words 
That hide the proverbial selfishness of your intentions
Narcissist, what a sublime façade
Shower me with elegant lavish attentions  
Inspire me 
Tell  me the stories you like to invent 
Frighten me 
Tell me about new exciting victories 
Win me over, invent me, give me a new identity 
Stun me, leave me defenceless and then strike
Embrace me and intoxicate me with irony and sensuality
Embrace me and intoxicate me with irony and sensuality
Win me over 
Win me over 
Win me over 

You look for shelter and brotherly love 
You hold your arms out towards the mirror  
you stumble and with a stern look on your face     
you mumble a sad Modugno song       
about violins played by the wind       
the last kiss my sweet child                
burns on your face like drops of lemon juice  
the courageous bravery  of a ferocious farewell   
but those are tears and it’s raining
and it’s raining  
it’s raining … 
Magical quiet, veiled indulgence
After a  relentless storm
You catch your breath and with intense ardour
Celebrate a meek, unusual awakening 
A thousand violins played by the wind
The last embrace my beloved child 
In the tenuous memory of a silver rainfall 
A remorseless sense of no return 
In those violins played by the wind 
The last kiss my sweet child 
burns on your face like drops of lemon juice  
the courageous bravery of a ferocious farewell   
but those are tears and it’s raining
and it’s raining  
and it’s raining
it’s raining … 

I suffer seeing you
break the principles
which were the firm basis
of an exemplary dignity.
 
The questionable urgency
that makes it essential for people
to conform to the norm
is inadmissible.
 
They say that the return 
on any sacrifice is considerable, 
but the exception to the rule
undermines the norm.

If it is true that the return 
on any sacrifice is considerable,
then giving up your soul
would bring a handsome reward
 
I suffer seeing you
making  bizarre movements
controlled by a shrewd, 
string-pulling puppeteer .
 
Do you think 
escaping  the stern
and watchful gaze
of your own conscience
can be an admirable choice ?
 
They say that the return 
on any sacrifice is considerable,
but the exception to the rule
undermines the norm.

If it is true that the return 
on any sacrifice is considerable,
then giving up your soul
would bring a handsome reward

One look from him and i fell under his spell,
His manicured fingers moved like a magician's.
His lips in proportion to the pearly-white,
Dazzling perfection of his irresistible smile.

With great expertise, never wasting a word,
I gave in to his charm and persuasion as he
Sweet talked me.

We started to meet and date fast and furiously,
In all the unusual places we could think of.
My artful young man had endless resources,
Pulling the strings that seduced me.

No hesitation when he asked me sincerely:
"come on let's get married". He was a master of self-assured ease.

Wedding day memories come back  to remind me,
A veil of white lace trailing softly behind me,
Something borrowed 'n' blue, something old 'n' new, 
As i waited devoutly for the groom to appear. 

Crammed in their pews the guests growing restless
Restraining their pent-up hysteria.
The minutes ticked by with relentless precision,
So where on earth was my husband to be ?

No hesitation when he asked me sincerely:
"come on let's get married". He was a master of self-assured ease.

Wedding day memories come back to remind me,
A veil of white lace trailing softly behind me,
No nervous bridegroom in manly composure,
Only the priest in conspicuous embarassment.

Wedding day memories come back  to remind me,
A veil of white lace trailing softly behind me,
No nervous bridegroom in manly composure,
Only the priest in conspicuous embarassment.

Wedding day memories come back  to remind me,
A veil of white lace flowing softly behind me,
No wedding march to walk down the
Aisle with, just the dull dirge of 
My inconsolable grieving.

When the April showers blur the horizon disconsolately fishermen bring their boats sowly back to the shore.
When April showers send housewives hurrying outdoors to salvage rows of white washing hanging on the line.
I know that summer's just round the corner playing hide and seek as it keeps us all waiting.
And through those meloncholy winters, how cold the nights coul be, my imitation of contentment was a parody.
All through those chilled and cheerless winters, col comfort came slowly to an end, every cloud lost its silver-lining, having fun was playing a game of pretend.
The April showers release the sweet scent of blossolming trees to ride the wind and go down to mingle with the salt-sea air.
I know that summer's just round the corner playing hide and seek as it keeps us all waiting.
And through those meloncholy winters, how cold the nights coul be, my imitation of contentment was a parody.
All through those chilled and cheerless winters, col comfort came slowly to an end.
What we missed then, most of all, was our indisputable right to laughter.

And through those meloncholy winters, how cold the nights coul be, my imitation of contentment was a parody.
And through those meloncholy winters, how cold the nights coul be, my imitation of contentment was a parody.

Dear Mr Waver it’s not easy 
To take responsibility for your choices   
Even to use your own words 
Wear a disguise and live bathing in reflected glory 
Deep in the murky waters 
Of  despicable lies and deceit 
Inferiority complexes and  
Cumbersome delusions of grandeur. 

Mr Waver it’s nothing to be ashamed of  
Never knowing how to hit the target
Having hopelessly missed the mark for the umpteenth time,

And it doesn’t really matter if 
Your wife does nothing but cry 
Obsessed by the suspicion of your many infidelities 
She swallows her pain and confusion with excessive doses of tranquillizers.

Feeling downhearted has become a habit, Mr Waver  
Not living up to your own ambitions  
Having to elbow your way to stand out from the crowd.
Ignorance is a considerable complex to have, 
An abyss that can be covered up in silence 
dodging the danger of facing a mild form of direct confrontation. 

Mr Waver it’s no disgrace  
to have no talent, 
to be forever trying not to miss the boat

And it doesn’t really matter if 
Your wife does nothing but cry 
Obsessed by the suspicion of your numerous infidelities 
And quite frankly she’s not entirely wrong  
And it’s no coincidence that 
Friends, lovers, and dreams all disappear 
The dog on the balcony has been waiting for months 
For the privilege of being taken for a walk and yet 
every evening he’s faithfully and ecstatically happy you’re home 
And it doesn’t really matter if 
Your wife does nothing but cry 
Obsessed by the suspicion of your numerous infidelities 
And quite frankly she’s not entirely wrong  
And it’s no coincidence that 
Friends, lovers, and dreams all disappear 
The dog on the balcony has been waiting for months 
For the privilege of being petted 
And meanwhile  your daughter asks you  
Why life is so miserable.

Look into my eyes 
Remove all lies and deceit
That aura of purity betrays diabolical anomalies 
And you know what I mean
And what I need

And yet you’ll have the cheek
To call facts mere chance events
Greed and duplicity conspire with the utmost cruelty
And you know what I mean
And you know that lying doesn’t right a wrong

You’ll cry and stage the umpteenth drama
With tears running down your burning cheeks
Eve 
And you’ll swear to God and on your mother that it’s not your fault
As the tears come running down

Look into my eyes
Remove all lies and deceit
Eve
That aura of purity reveals diabolic anomalies 
And you run from the awful monster
You’ve created
Sleep that brings no rest

You’ll cry and stage the umpteenth drama
With tears running down your burning cheeks
Eve 
And you’ll swear to God and on your mother that it’s not your fault
As the tears soak your silk shirt

Believe me it was an evil spell
The work of witchcraft
I was not in possession of my faculties

And you’ll cry and stage the umpteenth drama
With tears running down your burning cheeks
Eve 
And you’ll swear to God and on your mother that it’s not your fault
As the tears come running down

My love, things don’t always follow the right course
And it’s not just bad weather 
That ruins the harvest 
It’s funny how time goes by better than expected
Impending panic forces us to tame a fervid smile
And a sudden sense of well-being

Is happiness, perhaps, a remote hope?
Like sunshine in December
Not very far from here it’s snowing
Not very far from here
People devise ways to run around breathlessly
So anxious are they to get back to where they started from
That they forget how much is at stake
And how to follow suit.

My love, it’s not your fault
If you can’t handle joy
And you feel at ease 
Surrounded by pain and resignation
And it’s only natural if  sometimes,
we force ourselves to ignore the constant cry
of our real inclinations
The margin of error in an endless subtraction
  
Is happiness, perhaps, a remote hope?
Like sunshine in December
Not very far from here it’s snowing
Not very far from here
People behave in an odd and mysterious manner
Driven by an uncontrollable desire to be amazing
They don their masks but somehow
Forget to wear the one that shows courage
When the stakes are down

Not very far from here it’s snowing
Not very far from here it’s snowin

It’s Christmas already, time flies,
like a fast moving train bearing down on us,    
On the windows and  lighted lamps      
In the rooms of my memory                              
I wore a new face,                                     
dressed in ceremonial clothes                           
and buried the dauntless desire                          
to have you by my side

There’s another woman in the mirror                                  
and her face shows no sign of fear                               
How precious is your absence                                      
on this blissful occasion 
                                                
Daytime waits impatiently in the east, 
it won’t be long now....      
                                                                                                                
Look at                                                                           
the dawn teaching us how to smile                          
almost as though inviting us to be born again     
everything has a beginning, grows old                                                        
changes shape,                                                                      
love will be transformed, the mood of a dream in time         
will be forgotten…                                                                     
                                                                                                      
It’s Christmas already, time flies                                               
Dinner’s ready, don’t let it go cold,              
my father with his fake beard                                                   
and  red hat on his head
                                                          
life comes bursting in impetuously,                                  
with the urgency of perspective                                                
I can already see the look in my son’s eyes                          
and his toys all over the house                                              

and daytime waits impatiently in the east,                               
nighttime lays down its weapons and its darkness......                       

Look at                                                                                       
the dawn teaching us how to smile,                                      
almost  as                                                                                  
though inviting us to be born again,                                          ,
everything has a beginning,                                                                   
grows old,                                                                         
changes shape,                                                                 
and love is transformed,                                                 
even the most atrocious pain 
is subdued
          
Everything has a beginning, 
grows old, changes shape,
and love is transformed,
a flower closing at night           
is regenerated...

Ah ah... 

Seeking attractive                                            
Well-endowed, enterprising young lady              
Young, smart                                                  
but, above all else, sweet and accommodating    

Seeking apprentice                                                            
upstanding, honest, entrepreneurial, law-abiding man                  
offers young career girls  
a chance for an unprecedented rise to success  

pure and untouched young woman wanted                        
used and well run-in woman wanted                                
Northern or Southern, local or illegal immigrant            
aaah  let’s see how you dance to the rhythm of the samba or the cha cha cha  
at first glance you are gifted and very telegenic      
but perhaps you’re more interested in music  
         
Seeking caregiver                                             
charming eighty-year-old millionaire                   
offers stray bitches                                        
the opportunity for a more well-to-do life         

unrepentant woman and thief wanted         
saintly woman with no criminal record  wanted        
freshly deceased will do, as long as she’s hot            

aaah how would you kiss if you were in the movies       
scene one – camera - action                                            
or maybe you’re interested in politics                           
aaah minister of red-light affairs or cosmetics   
nowadays there’s no difference between men and women       
Italy, our beautiful country, gives merit where merit  is worth           

how would you sing some of our pop songs ‘Anima Mia’ (‘My Soul’) or ‘Finche la barca va’ (‘The ship sails itself’)           
on first listening you seem to have a talent for opera music      
or maybe you’re interested in astrophysics......                                

Ah ah...

You know full well that a drop in the sky is a deluge 
so small is the world that observes us    
You know full well that I’m not asking for much now    
so clear is the sea that listens to us and sends us to sleep        

(A) I’d like to try                               
I’d like to offer you my hands          
I’d like to try                                     
I’d like to protect this moment          
(B) and I think I feel confused and happy   
and I think I feel confused and happy         
and I think I feel...                                       

Ah…  ah…  ah… ah…

You know full well that I’m trembling and it’s not cold      
and I’m a victim of this immense joy         
you know full well that nothing can affect us now      
so fragile is the world that awaits us, that scares us         

(A)……… 

I’d like to try again                                   
I’d like to protect this moment                 

(B)………

confused and happy                                  
confused and happy                                  
confused and happy                                  

you know full well that a drop in the sky is a deluge       
so small is the world that observes us           

Now that my blood is infected         
nobody will want to lick my wounds anymore   
and I have found all the gold in the world   
in my pockets, isn’t that great           
I even got through winter                          
and I prayed long and hard               
I even got through winter                           
and I sang.......                                             

Now that I feel really, really cold                
I can count on the warm embrace of two blankets      
and I have found all the emptiness in the world     
in a compassionate caress                   
I even got through winter                   
and I prayed long and hard                 
I even got through winter                   
and I sang for a long time…               

(A) and I’m not tired at all                  
and I’m not tired at all                  
and I’m not tired at all                  
and I’m not tired at all                  

Now that I’m in this hell hole       
angels, friends and brothers have taken flight         
and I have found all the emptiness in the world       
in your pockets, in your remorse          
I even got through winter                             
and I prayed long and hard                          
I even got through winter                             
and I sang for a long time…                        

(A)(x2)……… 

now that I’ve lost everything

I met her a number of times when she was rather drunk 
They called her the Countess of Misery               
Because of her arid disposition                              
She was desperately lonely                        
On the threshold of sixty                                  
Sadly wrapped in garish ostrich feathers and vulgar-looking metal jewellery  
Written on the wall of her house  
 
Countess of Misery                 
Sooner or later life             
Pays off its debt                                  
Countess of Misery                
Sooner or later life takes you by surprise 
 
In her eyes lay the constant fear of the passing of time       
And she would have given anything to have the elixir              
Of long life              
She was desperately lonely       
On the threshold of sixty              
Sweetly engrossed in glorious memories steeped in powder, blusher and ‘rien ne va plus’       
Countess of Misery                 
Sooner or later life             
Pays off its debt                                  
Countess of Misery                
Sooner or later life takes you by surprise 
 
Without asking permission
Without prior warning   
Countess of Misery                       
Her mind in hibernation since the age of twenty   
Victim of the century’s deceptive     
Pursuit of the icons of beauty  
And cosmetic surgery      
 
Countess of Misery          
The mind doesn’t change  
Countess of Misery          
The mind doesn’t change  
Countess of Misery          
The mind doesn’t change  
Countess of Misery          
The mind doesn’t change  

Maybe I won’t be able to give you the best       
many times you found my efforts useless      
Maybe I won’t be able to give you the best       
many times you found my gestures ridiculous    

(A) as if having given up on myself                   
weren’t enough                       
as if all the power of my love
weren’t enough....                          

(B) and all I did was feel like a misfit
so I changed everything about me         
because I wasn’t enough                           
and I have only just realized that you were ......frightened                            

maybe I won’t be able to give you the best            
but I added things up and discovered that I don’t have more to give          

(A)……… 

and all I did was feel like a misfit        
and I changed everything about me        
because I wasn’t enough                           
and I have only just realized     

(B)………

You have never heard it said                 
that the beauty of things loves to       
be hidden                                            
and what I have inside is strong          
far from mediocre                         
and I risked losing everything so as not to..... succumb to it

You have never heard it said                 
that the beauty of things loves to       
surprise you                                    
and what I have inside is strong          
far from mediocre                          
and I blindfolded my eyes long ago so as not to…….see it                 

(A) and I would have liked to have been among your most beautiful words
getting a shiver from the look in your eyes          
and I would have liked to have been in your distracted replies           

We spent a long time weaving in and out of those exquisitely contorted conversations    
without coming to any conclusion               
and what I have inside is strong          
and far from mediocr
I followed that deafening sound so as not to........hear it       
( A ) X 1

Mary Chain was patiently waiting her turn to receive holy communion.
That Sunday Jesus Christ on the cross looked even more sorrowful than usual.
The old priest had been absolving his flock 
Of the usual sins for more than twenty years.
Jesus Christ on the cross looked somewhat disheartened 
By those small town vices
Above all the uncontrollable desire to resort
to buttered, baked and ready-to-eat gossip
What delicious morsels and petty titbits to tickle the appetites of the vulgar
With their big, asbestos-lined mouths, stinking like stagnant pools.

Jesus Christ on the cross
Seemed more bothered by those abominations than by the nails  

Mary Chain you know what it feels like
To have a lump in your throat.
Choking back tears of rage and bitterness
Because of wrongs you never committed.
And you’re still serving an unfair sentence 
In the gloomy circle of malicious gossip.
And you wonder whether your name 
was more an omen than a spiteful trick.

Mary Chain didn’t know how to react
When the priest refused to give her holy communion
And in her pain she smothered an unspoken amen 
along with her humiliation.
According to an ancient proverb 
in the long run all lies become truths

Jesus Christ smiled indulgently almost in disbelief.  
 
Mary Chain you know what it feels like
To have a lump in your throat.
Choking back tears of rage and bitterness
Because of wrongs you never committed.
And you’re still serving an unfair sentence 
In the gloomy circle of malicious gossip.
And you wonder whether your name 
was more an omen than a spiteful trick.

I’m looking at a photo of my mother
She was happy she must have been about three  
She was clutching  a doll close to her chest         
A most coveted gift.
It was her birthday party
In faded black and white .
 
I look at my mother in those days and I see 
The same smile on her face as mine.
And to think of all the times I felt she was distant 
And to think of all the times… 
I would have liked to talk to her about me at least ask her to explain 
Those long hostile moments of silence and indifference 
Invariably    
I would appear inflexible, beyond reach and proud
Deeply resolute fearing foolish rivalry  
 
I’m looking at a photo of my mother
She was happy she must have been about twenty 
Hair tied up in a silk scarf 
A vacant look upon her face.
A clear view of a radiant Catania 
In the sixties 
I scrutinize her closely and thoroughly and  find
The same look on her face as mine.
 
And to think of all the times I felt she was distant 
And to think of all the times… 
I would have liked to talk to her about me at least ask her to explain 
Those long hostile moments of silence and arbitrary indolence 
Invariably    
I would appear inflexible, beyond reach and proud
Deeply resolute fearing an innate rivalry. 
 
I would have liked to talk to her about me at least ask her to explain... 
I would have liked to talk to her about me at least ask her to explain...